Lawsuit: Long Island School Ignores Anti-Semitic Assaults

Students at a Long Island high school taunted a Jewish classmate, while the school refused to intervene, according to federal lawsuit.

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Rachel Hirshfeld, 14/05/12 17:11

High school students (illustrative)

Israel news photo: Flash 90

A gang of students at a Long Island high school taunted a Jewish classmate with an endless assault of anti-Semitic remarks, while the school refused to intervene, according to a new federal lawsuit, The New York Post reported.

The 20 students at Northport High School reportedly teased the Jewish student on school grounds and on Facebook during his freshman year in 2011 until he was forced to leave, the suit alleges.

Filed by Robert Slade on behalf of his son, the suit states that the abuse “consisted of some of the most hate-filled anti-Semitic slurs possible.”

The students at Northport High would address the student as “’Jew’ and would get his attention by saying, ‘Hey, Jew,’” the suit states.

“This student was subjected to some awful things,” said his lawyer, Chaim Book. “His parents alerted administrators at the school and they were ignored. Nothing was done.”

The lawsuit accuses district Superintendent Marylou McDermott and Northport High School of remaining silent in the face of such taunts and verbal abuse.

The victim even wrote an essay about his experiences in class, which failed to alarm school officials, the suit says.

The suit claims that at one point, McLaughlin told the boy to “consider what the bullies are going through at home.”

A lawyer for the school district, Adam Kleinberg, would not comment other than to say that officials responded appropriately to the teen’s concerns, The Post reported.